


Footnotes

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Codes & Ciphers, F/M, Favors, Secret Relationship, secret meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 08:41:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8743078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: East City’s too small to play their rendezvous games.  Thanks to an unusual bookstore and a called-in favor to Madame Christmas, Roy and Riza find a way to get some time alone together.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/gifts).



> Written in 2014 for my Beta Bay's birthday!

The wonderful thing about living in East City as opposed to Central was the quietness of it all.  It had all the big city charm as Central, just on a smaller scale.  The people seemed friendlier, the noise was nearly nonexistent, and on the edges of the city was a quaint residential community that gave East City its country-like feel.   
  
That said, it was harder for Roy and Riza to hide their relationship.  Everyone seemed to know everyone else, what they’d been up to and where they’d been.  It took some creativity and perseverance, but the two of them found a way to update their code and make time for each other.  
  
It all began one day as Riza was going shopping.  She’d been inwardly moping as she walked to the market.  Their team had been back in East City for nearly six weeks and apart from seeing one another at the office, she hadn’t been able to see Roy at all.  All their tried and true methods of courting in Central were not practical here.  It was a small city with nowhere to hide…  It was when she was sure there was nothing that could be done about their situation that she found the second hand book store.  
  
Being genuinely intrigued, and thinking maybe she could find a worthy romance novel to temporarily replace her lover, she went inside to check it out.  Inside were dozens of bookshelves, stacked high and packed full of all kinds of books.  An old man with a thick mustache and even thicker glasses wandered over with a big smile and asked if he could be any help.  
  
“What an impressive selection you have!” Riza exclaimed with a smile.  “How’d you get so many books?”  
  
The old man laughed.  “Most of ‘em are mine!  But we’ve had people donate ‘em from libraries of loved ones who’ve passed on, or they simply bought a book and didn’t like it, so they wanted to pass it on to someone who might enjoy it!”  
  
Riza ran her fingers along the varied spines- paperbacks, hard covers, and leather bound tomes all sat next to each other, organized without rhyme or reason, only sorted by genre.  “I think I’ll take a look and see what I can find.”  
  
“Help yourself, young lady!  I’ve got at least a hundred full boxes or more in the back- oh!  They’re fifty cenz a piece, all day long.  Take as long as ya need!”  He went back to his perch at the back of the store and picked up a novel written by a well known mystery author and left Riza to the task of finding something.  
  
There were so many stories looking back at her.  She wondered briefly at a very worn copy of “June in the Juniper Grove”, trying to picture who might’ve kept and reread the tale of a sailor who washed ashore off the coast of Xing, only to wake up in a hut nestled in a juniper grove and surrounded by rocky desert- and no memory of how he got there.  Its pages were ragged, dirty where fingers might’ve held it tightly, certain passages had been circled in pencil- and that gave her a grand idea.  
  
She carefully browsed through some of the shops adventure tales, selecting three titles- “The Temple of Cataclysm”, “Shrapnel in the Stars”, and “Beyond the Gods”.  She took the volumes to where the man sat at the back of the store.  
  
“Nothing like an adventure to escape the doldrums of everyday living, y’know,” he said as he handed her the change from her purchase.  “Haven’t seen ya in here before, I hope ya come back!”  
  
Riza smiled as she watched him bag the books up.  “I’m sure I’ll be back soon.  I’ll be sure to tell my coworkers about your shop!”  Riza went on to the market and then home, where as soon as she got her groceries put away, she grabbed a pencil and wrote at the top of the first page of “Shrapnel in the Stars”- ‘Six days at sea, the waves high and tumultuous.  The sailor prayed to God no less than two hundred times.  If only his prayers had been heard, he would have sailed the peaceful night sky above rather than the roiling ocean below.’  
  
She hoped Roy would recognize the code, it had been an awfully long time since they’d used this particular one.  Six notes, the next found on page two hundred.  The peaceful night sky was the two of them, the roiling ocean was reality.  She was trying to tell him they could talk this way safely, that no one would think anything of notes written in a book from a second hand store, assumingly from the previous owner.  She grinned to herself.  What a perfect cover- now if she could just use this new communication link to set up a date.  
  
*********************************  
  
The book was sitting on his desk when he came in the next morning.  There was a note sticking out from between the pages.  
  
 _‘General, I stumbled upon a secondhand book shop called Twice Told on 2 nd Street.  Saw this and thought you might enjoy a good space adventure. Cpt. Hawkeye’_  
  
Riza knew he didn’t care for adventure tales, that he preferred historical non-fiction and biographies.  There must be some reason she wanted him to read this particular book.  For now though, he all but turned his nose up at the thing and shuffled it off to the credenza behind him.  He had more important things on his plate to deal with at the moment- like meeting with a civil engineer, Scar, and Col. Miles to go over the second draft of Ishval’s infrastructure.  
  
Later that night, he unlocked his front door, tossed the book onto the couch and went to change out of his uniform.  After making himself a drink and a thick sandwich, he plopped down on the couch and looked at the book.  Shaking his head, he opened up to the front page and read her note.  His excitement built as he flipped through her messages, all spelling out for him that she missed him so much and needed to see him soon, saying that he was much better at planning their rendezvous than she was.  
  
The last note spoke of her desire for him, how difficult it was to go so long without his touch (it had been almost four months- they both were being watched so closely because of their injuries after the Promised Day, and after the move, there simply wasn’t any way to be together without _everyone_ finding out).  He decided he needed to go to this Twice Told place and hunt up a reply to her request.  But first he needed to make a call to his dear aunt.  
  
************************************  
  
They’d exchanged books twice now.  The second one he gave her had only one written notation on the pages- “The secret to it all lies in between the lines, in between the cracks, in between the pages.”  She flipped the book facedown to her bed and shook it until a piece of paper fell out, appearing blank to the casual passerby.  But Riza hurried to her kitchen and poured a bit of ammonia across the paper.  Pink letters bloomed from the white sheet.  
  
 _‘Madame is taking care of our problem.  There will be a tailor and a beauty parlor that will open very soon on Park Ave.  The salon and the tailor’s will connect in a special room at the back.  That room is OURS.  We can go to either location and stay for up to two hours and no one will assume anything.  In the meantime, Madame’s been bribing Grumman to either step down and promote me or change the frat regs, which I’ve already warned her to let up on that- I don’t want to just be given the Führer’s seat.  We’ll be able to be together again soon, start planning on what you’re going to wear now.  I plan on wearing nothing but a smile for about two hours.’_  
  
He went on to describe in aching detail everything he planned on doing to her once they got together, and Riza got so flustered she had to stop reading it.  Her resolve didn’t last long- she let her fingers take care of business as she read his words over and over, and when she crested, she wished the new businesses would open quickly.  Afterward, she burned the letter in an old kettle she kept for just this purpose and flushed the ashes.  Then she went to her closet to pick out something to wear for the day she and Roy got to meet up.  
  
*************************************  
  
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to renovate the two shops that had been bought by his aunt, the alterations shop opening before the salon.  The day it opened, Roy had waited until almost closing time to come and pay a visit.  The thin tailor knew him right away.  
  
“Ah, Gen. Mustang!  So wonderful to finally meet you at last!” he said as he stuck his hand out for a handshake.  
  
Roy smiled at him.  “I’m afraid I don’t know your name sir, but I appreciate the wonderful welcome.”  
  
“You can call me Tim.  Tim the Tailor!  And I do just about whatever you’d expect a person in Madame’s employ to do.”  The middle aged man went to the door and flipped the ‘Open!” sign over to say “Closed, please call again!” and locked the door.  “Let me show you the quarters, I’m sure you’re excited to see them.”  
  
The shop itself was set up rather elaborately, decorated in rich wood wainscoting, deep green carpet, a hunter motif on the printed wallpaper, tall houseplants and gold accents all around.  Two leather chairs sat in a waiting area, then there was a huge cleared space with a sort of podium a person would step up on in order to have a new hem put in.  There were measuring tapes everywhere, tissue paper stacks, chalk, straight pins in little tubs, needles stuck to a magnetic strip by one of the mirrors, and an entire wall of thread, in over a thousand colors, Roy assumed.  Further back were bolts of fabric on one side and fitting rooms on the other, the very back revealed a tiny water closet and a gallery of buttons- and a nondescript door that wasn’t even all that noticeable at first glance.  It wasn’t in any direct light, painted the same dark brown as the woods throughout the space and the doorknob didn’t gleam like the others had.  It had some kind of coating on it to keep the light from grabbing anyone’s attention.  
  
Tim handed him a key.  “You and Miss Riza will have the only keys.  The locks are the same, so if one of you loses your key, a copy can be made.”  
  
Roy thanked him and opened the door, not sure of what to expect.  
  
Inside was made to look like one of those beach resorts he’d seen in a travel ad for Aerugo.  The walls were a pale blue with false windows attached to the walls, covering realistic paintings of shore scenes.  They were dressed with sheer curtains and an air vent rustled them gently.  There was a double bed, set in a rustic frame with crackling white paint with a matching nightstand.  There was a shower stall in the closet, space for towels and spare underclothes in an armoire that held clean sheets, and a clock on the wall to help them keep track of time.  
  
Tim flipped a switch near the shower and the sounds of seagulls and crashing surf came from a speaker hidden behind a silk hibiscus tree.  “The place is soundproof, not a sound gets in or out.  Thought it might be nice to have a bit of background noise to complete the illusion.”  
  
“Wow,” Roy said as he looked around.  “Whatever she’s paying you isn’t enough.  I’ll ask her to give you a hefty tip.”  He saw the door across the way from where they’d entered.  “And that’s the door to the salon?”  
  
Tim nodded.  “That’s where the washer and dryer will be kept for the salon’s towels, so whenever you’re finished, just put the linens outside that door and we’ll get them washed up.  Also, if you need to escape out the back, you should go out on that side- the exit to the alley will be right there and you’ll be hidden from sight.”  
  
Roy touched the curtains and watched them blow gently in the breeze.  “This is truly amazing, just what Riza and I needed.”  
  
Tim grinned.  “Maddie, that’s my counterpart, ought to be opened by the end of the week.  Tell Miss Riza she has an appointment on opening day for a full skin treatment at 6 p.m., and I’ll expect you by for a new suit around the same time, alright?”  
  
Roy turned to Tim.  “It’s a date.”  They shook hands once more, and Roy left the tailor to grab another book from Mr. Marcus at Twice Told.  
  
He chose a romance novel, and when he got home, he wrote the note at the top of the first page.  
  
 _‘That morning, when beauty rises from the ashes of the stark landscape, when desirous fire is ignited by the cold, gray ashes, the winds will dance and play and flutter about, bringing spring’s beauty to triumph over winter’s cold.  And when the sun sets, six robins will sing the star to bed, and though the light goes out of the sky, the fire of the season will burn hottest on that first day when the world opens its eyes to its rebirth.’_  
  
Six o’clock, opening day.  Roy could hardly wait.  
  
******************************************  
  
The beauty parlor was gleaming and new, and Riza opened the door and stepped inside.  A bell rung over her head as she entered and a lovely older woman greeted her with a smile.  “Hello! How are you tonight, Miss Riza?”  
  
She wasn’t expecting to be known by name.  “Uh, I’m fine, thank you very much!”  She fought the urge to fidget nervously.  “I have an appointment-”  
  
The woman brushed her off with a wave.  “There’s no one here but us, honey.  Let me show you how to get to your beau.”  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key.  “My name’s Maddie, one of the Madame’s girls back in Central.  I’ve been lookin’ for a new start somewhere, tryin’ to get out of the whorin’ business and she plopped this right in my lap.  Couldn’t have asked for a better out than this.”  
  
Maddie led her past the hair stylist chairs, past the manicure tables, past the pedicure chairs, all the way to the back where a wringer washer sat next to a gas dryer.  She handed her the small key and said, “Only you and Roy have the keys to this room, it’s all yours.  My fiancé, Tim next door, said he’s already given Roy the grand tour in there, and I saw Roy arrive about five minutes ago.”  She patted Riza on the arm.  “It’s completely soundproof, you be as loud as you need to, honey.  Ain’t no one gonna hear a thing.”  
  
Riza thanked her, then Maddie walked off, tugging a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and heading for the front door.  Riza slid the key into the lock and turned it, stepping into an island paradise.  Roy was sitting on the bed, facing her, smiling at her as she came into the room.  
  
“Some room, huh?” he said excitedly.  “It’s like we’ve left town completely!”  
  
Riza was impressed by the space- no doubt about that- but there were other things she wanted to see more right that moment, and trompe l’oeil paintings of the ocean were not among those things just then.  She dropped her purse and ran to him as he stood to catch her.  Their mouths met desperately, their arms wrapped tight around each other.  
  
She broke away from his lips, panting.  “I thought you said you weren’t going to be wearing anything but a smile,” she said as she began loosening his tie.  
  
“I wasn’t sure who’d be standing at the door when you opened it,” Roy answered as he left kisses along her neck.  “Didn’t want Maddie to get jealous.”  
  
Riza hummed at his attentions to her throat.  “Good point.”  She unbuttoned his shirt and reached for his belt.  “It would really be nice if you could just get naked already…”  
  
Roy stepped back from her and took over.  “You, too.”  
  
Riza unbuttoned two buttons on her shirt and whipped the garment over her head, then quickly shed her skirt  and panties.  “Leaving the stockings, they’re too hard to work back up.”  
  
“Fine by me,” Roy answered as he kicked out of his shoes and lost his boxers and trousers.  “Meet you on the bed?” he asked.  
  
Riza nodded as she unhooked her bra and dropped it on top of her other clothing.  The bed was just soft enough, not too fluffy and not too hard.  The chenille bedspread was too bumpy for their liking though, so they turned down the sheets and climbed in under the covers instead.  Roy wasted no time in kissing her again now that they were settled, and Riza felt the world sliding away in their sanctuary.  
  
There weren’t many words between them once Roy began to work her up.  His fingers sought to bring her to bliss as he caressed her lips with his.  She’d forgotten how warm his breath could be against her skin, how electrifying those talented fingers could be once they started their magic rhythms on her sacred places.  Riza gasped his name when he brought her to climax and shook against him.  
  
Roy kissed her shoulder tenderly, then asked, “Again?”  
  
“Yes,” she whined, and again he built up his assault on her body.  He wriggled down a little to show her breast some attention, and Riza twined his hair about her fingers encouraging his suckling.  She’d given up on keeping her voice down at this point.  Despite the time that had passed since their last encounter, Roy knew how to play her body like an instrument.  She felt two warm fingers slip into her and she moaned loudly at how wonderful it felt, especially when started doing that come-hither motion he’d perfected.  She squirmed.  She breathlessly demanded more.  She shivered and begged.  And then she _came_.  
  
He’d already taken her to the stars and back once, but this was different.  Riza shrieked and felt warmth bursting from her body, soaking her inner thighs and the backs of her knees.  Her previous orgasm was wonderful, but this was _mind-blowing_.  It felt as if her hair were standing on end, like even her fingers and toes were writhing in ecstasy, every part of her body and soul singing in absolute pleasure.  
  
“That’s my girl,” Roy’s voice purred as she slowly returned to earth.  He didn’t rush her recovery, only held her in his arms and kissed her belly as she trembled with little aftershocks of her incredible release.  
  
“So amazing,” she gasped as she caught her breath.  
  
“Nowhere near as amazing as you.”  
  
Riza rolled him to his back and straddled his waist.  “You’re too modest.”  She reached back to stroke his length.  “Now I get to show you what _I_ can do…”  
  
His dark eyes had closed and his mouth was slacked open.  “You can do whatever you want- I am putty in your hands, my lady.”  Then he looked up, face serious.  “You still on the pill?”  
  
Riza arched a brow at him, then rose up and inserted him- bare- into her body.  
  
Roy groaned, “To every god that is currently listening, thank you for bringing this woman into my life.”  
  
Riza started to rock her hips.  “I hope they have many more years planned for us,” she said, squeezing the cock inside her- and grinning wickedly when Roy whimpered.  
  
“I can’t wait to marry you,” he said as his hands rested on her hips.  “We could do this every day.”  
  
She moved faster, felt him swell within her.  “Twice a day!”  
  
After that, Riza concentrated on giving him his release.  Her hips rolled and rocked frantically.  She reached down and tugged his hands to her breasts- which quickly brought her up to a third climax.  Roy pulled her hands down to his shoulders and had her lean forward.  He thrust into her quickly, kissing her hard all the while.  Then Riza felt it- the shudder in his rhythm, the faulty stroke that triggered a splash of liquid heat against her insides that only served to make her feel full and sticky.  
  
Her chest heaved as Roy wrapped his arms around her back and crushed her to him.  He left soft kisses anywhere he could reach and Riza decided breathing in his scent was more important than verbally thanking him.  She squeezed his biceps in appreciation and left a tender kiss to his chest.  After a long while, Roy found his voice again.  
  
“I love you, Riza.”  His hands were running through her hair and she was dangerously close to falling asleep on him, his wilted length buried inside her and semen leaking from her opening.  
  
“I love you, too,” she whispered.  She raised her head.  “We have to find a way to thank your aunt.”  
  
His fingers brushed her cheek.  “If we have a baby, all debts will be forever paid, I promise.”  
  
She frowned.  “You know we can’t do that, not yet anyway.”  
  
“I know.  But it’s nice to dream sometimes.”  He looked past her at the wall.  “It’s almost eight, we need to get going.”  
  
He told her about the shower, they lamented that it wasn’t big enough for both of them, then they stripped and remade the bed (and were thankful there was a waterproof protector on the mattress).    
  
Roy came to her and held her one last time before they parted ways.  “Once a week is good, right?  You could get your nails done or something once a week and I can have some kind of repair or button exchange to deal with.”  
  
Riza nodded.  “We should send Madame some of that expensive chocolate she likes to thank her.  And maybe two dozen roses, since I can’t give her a grandchild just yet.”  
  
Roy kissed her deeply, then held her face and said, “Thank you.  That was the best sex I’ve had in a long time.  You’re amazing.”  
  
Riza felt her face heat.  “You’re not so bad yourself.”  She pecked him on the lips.  “I love you, see you in the morning.”  
  
She brought the dirty linens out with her and Maddie offered her a cigarette.  
  
“Soundproofing works real nice, I didn’t hear a thing.”  She smiled at her.  “Hope you all had a great time.”  
  
“The best,” Riza replied.  “Thank you for leaving everything behind in central to come here and be our refuge.”  
  
Maddie patted her shoulder as she escorted Riza to the door.  “Like I told ya, I’d been tryin’ to get out of my profession and start a new life, so the pleasure’s all mine, I assure ya.”  She unlocked the door and let Riza out.  “Y’all come by anytime.  That room’s yours and we’ll always have an alibi for ya.”  
  
“Thank you,” she said, then looked to her right to find Roy doing the same thing, thanking his host.  
  
He turned to her with a look of shock.  “Cpt. Hawkeye!  What a surprise- I was just getting measured for a new suit!”  
  
Riza smiled, all professionalism and duty written on her face.  “Good evening, sir.  I was just finishing up a massage and manicure myself.”  
  
“Mind if I walk you home?  It’s on the way, and I’m good company!”  
  
“Of course, sir. That’d be fine.”  
  
She wanted to take his arm- she was sure he wanted to offer it to her.  Instead they walked as they did at work- side by side and facing forward, never touching.


End file.
